Chapter Text
The grand entryway was dark and cool, in drastic opposition to the bright desert heat outside. Despite the dust and debris that covered everything, the grandeur of the place was evident. A fallen chandelier on the floor that Lightning carefully stepped around, gorgeous wood paneling that he ran a hand along, ornate rugs that were nearly disintegrating beneath his feet.
The beam of his phone’s flashlight cut through the darkness, thick with dust being disturbed for the first time in years.
The two of them walked forwards in silence, rays of light illuminating different sections of the hotel’s lobby as they looked around. It was saddening to see such a grand place being forgotten by time.
Silas was lost in a daydream imaging what the hotel must have been like back in its prime, and didn’t see Lightning disappear into a side room. The light from his phone vanished momentarily as he rounded the corner, plunging part of the main lobby back into darkness.
Then there was a scream, and a thud.
Silas rushed towards the source of the noise, freezing in the doorway, to see Lightning grumpily standing in front of a large painting. His phone was on the floor- the source of the thud. Concern and confusion painted across his face, Silas slowly trailed his flashlight upwards to see the subject of the painting. It was a clown.
Silas stood there, looked at the painting, then looked at Lightning. And burst out laughing. He tried not to, really, but he couldn’t help it. Lightning just glowered at him.
“I’m sorry for laughing, I really am, but-” He wheezed, pausing for a moment to catch his breath before continuing.
“You? This afraid of clowns? What happened to the hot-shot not-afraid-of-anything racer I see on T.V.?”
“There aren’t any clowns on the race track.”
Silas cackled.
.
.
.
Silas finally composed himself enough to leave the room with the clown painting before Lightning dragged him out by himself, and they stood in the dark room for a moment.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Oh? Your urban exploration fantasies satisfied?” Silas teased, and earned a bat on the arm from the racer. The two of them made their way back out through the large entrance doors to find the sun had nearly finished setting.
“Wow, we were in there for longer than I thought-” Lightning remarked, looking up at the now-dark sky looming above them. The orange hue of the desert day had been almost entirely replaced by darkness. They could see the neon lights of town twinkling far below them, but there were no lights up where they stood except for the moonlight from above.